OpenAI CEO under fire: “The problem is Sam Altman”
Key summary
The New Yorker published an investigation based on confidential memos, internal documents, and more than 100 interviews.
Several former colleagues described Sam Altman as untrustworthy; former research chief Dario Amodei said, "The problem with OpenAI is Sam himself."
Co‑founder Ilya Sutskever compiled board memos alleging a pattern of deception — one memo lists "Lying" as its first point — and judged Altman unsuitable for AGI responsibility.
Allegations include offering the same job to two people and lying about safety protocols; Amodei and Sutskever reached similar conclusions.
The OpenAI board fired Altman in November 2023 for lack of transparency; more than 700 people organized a counter-campaign, Microsoft invested about $13 billion, Altman returned as CEO in under five days, a WilmerHale probe closed without clear findings, and the superalignment team led by Jan Leike received 1–2% of compute despite a 20% promise.
